The bad news for the All Americans on tour in Ireland is that Don Pati is out of the remainder of the tour thanks to a broken arm suffered in the opening match against Connacht Development.

Pati had surgery Sunday and will remain with the team for the rest of the trip. He is expected to recover and should have little problem getting back on the field for the University of Utah.

The good news is that Ryan Roundy, who was taken off the field with a worrying injury, is not seriously injured. X-rays didn’t show anything problematic – good news for Roundy who suffered a nasty fracture while playing for the All Americans last year.

And the really good news is, of course, that they won. Head Coach Matt Sherman had to have been pleased with his team’s patience, as they were down 14-3 against the wind, and came back piece by pice (taking three penalties in a display of smart decision-making from the on-field leadership).

“We had a reasonable wind behind us in the second half and we wanted to use our exit strategy to play the game in their half and apply pressure from there,” said Sherman. “The guys did a great job to not panic and chase the game too soon. We played very smart  in the second half, played most of the game in their end, and even though our attack lacked a lot of structure, we were able put pressure on them that led to points through effective continuity at the breakdown, where the guys all performed extremely well.”

In short, it was a grown-up kind of rugby effort. The All Americans in 2011 played well, and won a couple of games thanks to some breakaway tries. It was like they ripped the Band-Aid off quickly. This time, the Band-Aid had to be teased off one three-point bit at a time, and the players were patient enough to do it.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that Joe Cowley was lights out with his kicking, which he needed to be.

The real positives for the All Americans were that they showed excellent continuity at the breakdown, turning over only a handful of balls, their defensive physicality (no surprise there), and their work rate in realigning on defense.

Sherman said he was also pleased with his lineout, which set a good attacking platform and also troubled Connacht on defense.

“The scrum also improved throughout the game,” Sherman added. “It  wasn’t perfect, but held well.”

On the other hand, the team is still looking for its shape on attack.

“A bit to be expected with only one real team attack session,” said Sherman. “But we think with film and walkthroughs we can make big improvements in this area going into Leinster.  We made up for that structure with aggression and physicality at the breakdown, as well as just some imagination in play.”

Leading that charge was scrumhalf Chris Saint, who read the game very well and created some attacking opportunities. Now Sherman wants more of his players to be on the same page.

The USA Collegiate All Americans defeated Connacht Development, a team of Connacht Academy, along with some provincial players and some hopefulys, 19-17 Saturday at Connacht.

Photos by Joan Shepherd

Led by superb performances from Chris Saint at scrumhalf and Cam Dolan at blindside flanker, the All Americans came back from a 14-3 halftime deficit to overhaul their hosts.

Tries from Chris Lilly and Steve McCauley, both converted by center Tadhg Leader, put Connacht ahead, with the All Americans managing only a penalty kick from fullback Joe Cowley.

But a mere few minutes into the second half Saint sped over for a try, which, with Cowley’s conversion, made the score 14-10 Connacht.

Penalty kicks from Cowley at 52 and 56 minutes nudged the All Americans into the lead. Connacht brought it back with a Leader kick. But with 11 minutes to go, Cowley’s fourth penalty put his side up to stay.

It wasn’t easy, though, as the Americans had to defend doggedly in the closing moments. The players battled hard and the team suffered several injuries – it remains to be seen how serious.

All Americans 19
Tries: Saint
Convs: Cowley
Pens: Cowley 4

Connacht Development 17 
Tries: Lilly, McCauley
Convs: Leader 2
Pens: Leader

All Americans
1 Mikey Su'a
2 Andrew Cook
3 Ray Forrester
4 James Lynch
5 Nate Brakeley
6 Can Dolan
7 Ryan Roundy
8 Shaun Potgeiter
9 Chris Saint
10 JP Eloff
11 Don Pati
12 Seki Kofe
13 Seamus Kelly
14 Madison Hughes
15 Joe Cowley

16 Mike Shepherd
17 Nick Wallace
18 Jake Mizell
19 Hynie Leaatoa
20 Jamie Kelm
21 Alec Gletzer
22 Pat Sullivan
23 Nick Evans
24 TJ Allred

Connacht Development
15           Alex O’Meara
14           Steve Macauley
13           Conor Finn
12           Tadhg Leader
11           Matt Healy
10           Darragh Leader
9              Chris Lilly
1              JP Cooney
2              Kurt Haupt
3              Jamie Dever
4              Danny Qualter
5              Jonathan Gardiner
6              Dave Heffernan
7              Aaron Conneely
8              Danny Kenny

Referee: Eanna O’Dowd 

Attendance 250

Collegiate All Americans Head Coach Matt Sherman has named his starting lineup to face Connacht Academy Saturday afternoon at The Sportsground.

Sherman has named all his available non-starters as subs. Four BYU Cougars are in the starting lineup, including gameday captain Ryan Roundy, who starts at openside flanker. 

Connacht has named a Developmental squad, and is a mixture of senior squad members, academy players, and players hoping to break in to the senior side.

Connacht team Manager Nigel Carolan said “this game is a great opportunity for some of the younger development players to get a run out at this stage of the season and will give coaches a chance to look at players ahead of the British & Irish Cup which kicks off in October.“

The team contains some well-known names in the starting XV. Aaron Conneely and Conor Finn were both part of the Irish under 20’s squad that finished 5^th in the Junior World Championship in South Africa during the summer. Flanker Dave Heffernan is a former Irish U20’s International and made his senior debut against the Scarlets last season.

USA Collegiate All Americans
1 Mikey Su'a BYU
2 Andrew Cook St. Mary’s
3 Ray Forrester BYU
4 James Lynch Life
5 Nate Brakeley Dartmouth
6 Cam Dolan Life
7 Ryan Roundy (C) BYU
8 Shaun Potgeiter Arkansas State
9 Chris Saint Penn State
10 JP Eloff Davenport
11 Don Pati Utah
12 Hoseki Kofe BYU
13 Seamus Kelly California
14 Madison Hughes Dartmouth
15 Joe Cowley Life

16 Mike Shepherd Utah
17 Nick Wallace St. Mary’s
18 Jake Mizell Arkansas State
19 Hynie Leaatoe BYU
20 Jamie Kelm San Diego State
21 Alec Gletzer UC-Santa Barbara
22 Pat Sullivan Arkansas State
23 Nick Evans Tennessee
24 TJ Allred  BYU

Connacht Developmental starting 15 
15           Alex O’Meara
14           Steve Macauley
13           Conor Finn
12           Tadhg Leader
11           Matt Healy
10           Darragh Leader
9              Chris Lilly
1              JP Cooney
2              Kurt Haupt
3              Jamie Dever
4              Danny Qualter
5              Jonathan Gardiner
6              Dave Heffernan
7              Aaron Conneely
8              Danny Kenny

The Collegiate All-Americans will play their opening match against Connacht Academy on Saturday.

It is likely that the Americans will put all their non-starters on the bench for Saturday's game, although with a couple of guys carrying small injuries, that bench won't be appreciably larger than usual - maybe nine subs to go along with 15 starters.

The subs bench will be seven or eight for Leinster.

Seamus Kelly, Nate Brakely, and Ryan Roundy are squad captains, but a game day captain will be named for Saturday.

On Thursday the team practiced against Trinity (Dublin University) in a scrimmage that was not full contact.

Friday the players will go through a captain's run, and later in the day will visit Trinity College to see the famous Book of Kells, a 1200-year-old book of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament. After that they will tour Lansdowne Road, the home of Irish rugby.